The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015, are automatically nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on October 23, 2015, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

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Don’t judge a book by its cover. Well, here we are. Like it or not, a cover can say a lot about a book—about its content, its character and, in some cases, its quality. More and more indie authors understand the value of a great cover—particularly in the all-important thumbnail size. Here are a few that stuck out to us this year. —Ryan Leahey

One of the benefits of the boom in self-publishing is that excellent, narrowly focused books with potentially limited markets don’t have to languish in a publisher’s slush pile. Carin Siegfried, a veteran of traditional publishing, knew that her book, The Insider’s Guide to a Career in Book Publishing, which got a Kirkus Star, had “a small and very specific market, and…figured it was probably too small for a major publisher,” she says, so she opted to publish it herself ...

About 460,000 books were self-published in 2013, up 17 percent over the previous year, according to Bowker, which also noted that “the trend of self-publisher as business-owner, rather than writer only, continues.” The result—evident in our best Best Indie Books of 2014 list yet—is that we’re seeing many more well-written, tightly edited Indie books.

It’s even easier for self-pubbed authors to cross the shrinking divide between self- and traditional publishing. One of the Best Indie Books of ...

A book is the perfect gift: meaningful, personal and usually not too expensive. Check out the latest books we’ve given the Kirkus Star to if you’re wanting to give fiction, nonfiction or young adult and kid’s books this holiday season. If you’re looking to give something a little more visual (and expensive), check out our guide to some recently published, stand-out coffeetable, cookbook, and art books. Happy Holidays!

PEN America, which defends free expression, has concocted a perceptive, insightful way to raise money: They’ve asked 75 writers and artists to annotate the first edition of their classic works, which they then auction off. First Editions/Second Thoughts consists of writers like Toni Morrison, Gillian Flynn, Philip Roth, Stephen Sondheim, Eric Carle and Patti Smith publicly wrestling with the books they’re best known for. Morrison, for example, makes a brief note in Beloved that “the last two pages of ...

Kelly Justice owns Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia, which opened in 1978. Its 1867 building has hardwood floors, exposed brick walls and natural wood shelves. It looks so much like a classic independent bookstore that when author Kelly Corrigan visited (as reported in Bookselling This Week), she said: “This is the reason people quit their jobs and open a bookstore. This is what they imagine.”

In the traditional publishing world, a big celebrity name can move titles. Madonna, for example, has produced several best-selling children’s books, such as The English Roses, and Gwyneth Paltrow has written successful recipe books, including It’s All Good. But as self-publishing has become more accessible, celebrities with smaller fandoms have also been getting in the game.

Norman Reedus, for example, is best known for playing the crossbow-wielding zombie-apocalypse survivor Daryl Dixon on the AMC television series The Walking Dead. As ...

I think every avid reader dreams of being a novelist, and I'm no exception. But unlike many authors, I didn't grow up with hopes of being published by one of the big publishing houses. Sweating over a novel for months or years only to suffer decades of rejections didn't appeal to me.

Not only that, but I'm somewhat of a control freak. I like to have control over my business ...

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